Xavier Lewis of Eaglecrest and Valarie Allman of Silver Creek were named male and female student-athletes of the year Wednesday at The Denver Athletic Club’s 38th annual banquet.

Sponsored by The Denver Post, 9News and The DAC, the two seniors were recognized for their accomplishments through athletics, academics and character. They were chosen for their performances throughout the 2012-13 school year and were highlighted along with legendary American skier Billy Kidd and Missy Franklin, Regis Jesuit’s Olympic champion swimmer.

Lewis, a safety in football, was The Denver Post’s 63rd Gold Helmet Award winner after leading the Raptors to a turnaround season. He also competed in track and field, had a 4.6 GPA and signed to play at Wyoming.

“I just want to thank everyone,” Lewis said.

Allman is the state’s best prep performer in girls discus (her best throw was 184 feet, 2 inches) and she came less than 8 feet from the national high school record. She had a 4.4 GPA and will compete at Stanford.

“I was so pleased just to be able to be here,” Allman said.

Lewis and Allman were chosen from finalists who included Michael Burns of Columbine, Garet Krohn of Arvada, Zack Golditch of Gateway, Emilio Martinez of Greeley West, Michal Bower of Loveland, Catherine Ellis of Kent Denver, Haley Hutton of Valley and Rhianna Williams of Fossil Ridge.

Kidd, who won silver in slalom at the 1964 Olympics in Austria, was cited for The DAC’s career achievement award and Franklin, who won four gold medals and a bronze last summer at the London Olympics, was named the Colorado athlete of the year. She swam for Regis Jesuit the past two years, insisting on retaining her eligibility, and will swim collegiately at California.

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